Five Years of the NEP Reflects the Changed Hierarchy of Indian Education's Aims
Anita Rampal | 29 July 2025 | The Wire
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 came after a long wait, with several tentative moves; committees were formed, but no report was released. The committee constituted in 2017 put out a bulky 484-page Draft NEP (DNEP) in June 2019. There were discussions and critical deliberations; several groups, academic institutions and individuals gave feedback and suggestions. Strong political protests took place in the southern states, especially in Tamil Nadu, against Hindi being made compulsory in schools. That was retracted and an alternative draft, almost in anticipation of the response, was immediately released.
In July 2020, NEP came out in the midst of a devastating pandemic; with 50,000 new cases testing positive for COVID-19 each day, millions displaced after loss of livelihoods, and a nationwide lockdown. Children remained abandoned, deprived of mid-day meals, and schools were shut for almost two years; classes suddenly went online, deepening the digital divide…